Month: August 2017

One good piece of fuel cell news after another: Businesses on the stock exchange, such as the ones discussed in these news articles, have announced a series of large orders, new strategic partnerships, technological advances and new investors (also strategic ones), and some (quarterly) results or forecasts promise interesting times ahead on the way to a hydrogen society. Share prices are gradually starting to reflect the positive development

First-quarter figures this year differed from expectations. You could say: They were abysmal. A net loss of USD 24.1 million attributable to common shareholders, meaning a loss of USD 0.13 instead of USD 0.07 per diluted share. Plug’s possibly very disadvantageous Walmart business (forklift retrofits financed through leasing) is still making an impact that shows on the balance sheet.

On April 27, 2017, FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) took everyone by surprise when it announced that it intended to raise USD 15.4 million in capital through an underwritten public offering. The net proceeds amounted to USD 13.8 million at USD 1.28 per share, meaning 15 per cent above current stock quotes. At the same time, it issued one-year warrants priced at USD 1.28 per share, exercisable at any time, and five-year ones at USD 1.60 per share, including the same option (convertible into shares).

Before the capital raise, a Chinese-based investor, Fuzhou Bonded Zone Hejili Equity, made a private placement to Hydrogenics (NASDAQ: HYGS) at a price that was 10 per cent above the average stock quote, meaning USD 7.83 per share. This has all the hallmarks of a good deal for Hydrogenics and shows the trust that the strategic investor has in its decision. Hejili paid USD 21 million for those shares

Profit from 2017‘s first quarter was less than persuasive, as minus USD 1.33 per share (before extraordinary items/losses) was a much higher fall than the, on average, USD 0.81 in loss analysts had expected. First-quarter net loss added up to around USD 330 million. That revenue grew strongly by 69 per cent (compared to the same quarter last year) to USD 2.7 billion is a positive.

ITM Power (NASDAQ: ITMPF) is the first R&D fuel cell business from the UK making the jump onto the British stock exchange. ITM manufacturers power-to-gas systems, H2 filling stations and electrolyzers. Currently, it is working on a module-based electrolyzer that could allow for combinations offering up to 100 MW capacity.

Georgios “Jorgo” Chatzimarkakis was born in Duisburg, Germany, in 1966. He holds German and Greek nationality, a degree in agriculture and politics from the University of Bonn, and even back then, he had already showed a strong interest in economic history and international and European law, making his entry into politics an easier one. He went on to work for Germany’s Foreign Office, as a business consultant, as an associate professor in the field of European Politics and until 2014 for Germany’s Free Democrats

In late March, Dieter Zetsche’s words on electric transportation and the future of fuel cells caused quite a stir in the automotive industry. During the auto motor und sport conference on March 27 in Stuttgart, the head of Daimler was asked about what type of electric transportation his company would favor over the coming years. Instead of the short reply one would expect, he went on to give a long answer to the question and it seemed to have given rise to wildly different interpretations.

Daimler head Dieter Zetsche’s statement during the auto motor und sport conference in Germany prompted Stefan Hajek and Martin Seiwert, the editors of the Wirtschaftswoche business magazine, to write an obituary for the fuel cell (see also Don’t Count on It).

Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, sent a clear signal during her opening tour of this year’s Hannover Messe on April 24, 2017. Together with Poland’s prime minister, Beata Szydło, she went to Energy hall 27 to take a closer look at a fuel cell bus, something that created a cheerful mood among the exhibitors at the joint booth Hydrogen + Fuel Cells + Batteries set up right next to the vehicle.